Yuvraj, Kaarthick in squad for first TestKaif left out; to lead Board President’s XI
Mumbai, February 26
Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick was persisted with as the national selectors today named a full-strength 14-member squad for the first cricket Test against Pakistan beginning in Mohali on March 8.
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Pathan rules out friendship on field
Bangalore, February 26
The upcoming Indo-Pak cricket series would be fiercely competitive and tough and friendship on the field is out of the question, left-arm medium pacer Irfan Pathan said today.

Aussies clinch series
Auckland, February 26
Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey produced a record partnership to lead Australia to a series-clinching, 86-run win over New Zealand in the third one-day international cricket match here today.

Zimbabwe slump to huge defeat
Johannesburg, February 26
Chasing South Africa’s impressive 301, Zimbabwe tumbled to 136 and a record 165-run defeat yesterday in the first of three one-day internationals.
In the absence of Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel, South Africa’s backup bowlers Andrew Hall and Albie Morkel stepped up to the plate and took five wickets between them for 52 runs as the visitors were unable to mount any kind of serious assault on their target at Wanderers Stadium.

Anand draws with Leko
Linares (Spain), February 26
Viswanathan Anand played a safe game and settled for a quick draw against Hungarian Peter Leko in a second round tie of the 22nd Linares Super Grandmasters Chess Tournament here.

Sporting down Salgaocar
Margao, February 26
Sporting Clube de Goa quelled a late resurgence to down Salgaocar SC by a solitary goal to score their third successive victory in the National Football League her today.

Andre Agassi of the USA prepares to hit a backhand return during his match with Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday. Agassi won 6-4, 7-6. — Reuters

Chandigarh, February 26
Fifteen golfers from Pakistan converged on the lush course of the Chandigarh Golf Club today for an Indo-Pak Goodwill Golf Tournament.

Golfers from Pakistan and their wives hold hands with Chandigarh Golf Club executive committee members during a break in the Indo-Pak Friendship Golf Tournament at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Saturday. — Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Vijay Singh, Woods bow out
Carlsbad (USA), February 26
World number one Vijay Singh and defending champion Tiger Woods, the top seeds, crashed out of the WGC Match Play Championship second round and third-seeded Phil Mickelson followed them out in the third round here.

Pankaj Advani grabs Asian billiards title
Pune, February 26
National champion Pankaj Advani displayed his superb form as he thrashed Thai challenger C Praput 5-0 to win the fourth Asian Billiards Championship here today.
Beginning confidently, Advani went on to win all five frames without much challenge despite his rival being a former world champion and one who had caused major upsets in the championship.

Kanwalpreet’s violent act costs team dear
New Delhi, February 26
Punjab Police today paid the price for their defender Kanwalpreet Singh’s violent act as they were thrown out of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament here today.

Chowrasia wins Singhania Open
New Delhi, February 26
Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia of Kolkata, who missed most of the 2004-05 Amby Valley PGAI Tour season due to a fractured wrist, put that wrist to brilliant use to romp home to a convincing victory in the Rs 10 lakh prize money Sir Padampat Singhania Open Golf Tournament at the Noida Golf Course here today.

Pak club down Bharat Petroleum
New Delhi, February 26
Pakistan club team Water and Power Authority Development, Lahore, got the better of Bharat Petroleum 4-3 in the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here today. In another match, Sapura Hockey Club, Malaysia, drew with Air India, Mumbai, 1-1.

India C lead in golf tourney
New Delhi, February 26
Amandeep Singh Malik and Gagan Verma of India C took a four-stroke lead after the opening round of the Eveready 104th All-India Amateur Golf Championship, the grand finale of the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour, at the Delhi Golf Club course here today.

Ballo
Majra club win kabaddi tourneyBhago Majra (Kharar), February 26The three-day 21st annual kabaddi tournament concluded with a colourful cultural programme here today. The last event of the tournament was the final kabaddi match under Open Club category played between the teams of Ballo Majra and Kumbra villages.

Mumbai, February 26
Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick was persisted with as the national selectors today named a full-strength 14-member squad for the first cricket Test against Pakistan beginning in Mohali on March 8.

The squad, which had no major surprises, saw the return of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar and pacemen Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra -- all of whom had been nursing injuries.

While Yuvraj Singh edged his way back by virtue of his "past performance against Pakistan", Mohd Kaif and Ajit Agarkar, however, could not find a berth in the team announced by BCCI Secretary S K Nair here.

Kaif was widely tipped to be named after some impressive performances in the limited chances he got in the longer version of the game but Yuvraj was lucky to get the nod.

Nineteen-year-old Kaarthick was preferred for the wicketkeeper's role ahead of Parthiv Patel and M S Dhoni, both of whom were strong contenders for the slot.

"The selectors felt that Kaarthick should be given one more chance though the names of Dhoni and Patel were also discussed. They will get their chance as the series progresses," Nair said. Sourav Ganguly was named skipper for the entire three-Test series.

The selectors picked four pace bowlers and two specialist spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh keeping in mind the Mohali track which is expected to assist fast bowlers.

Harbhajan, who recently underwent bio-mechanic tests in Australia for a suspect bowling action, was picked as he had been "cleared by ICC to play in the series," Nair said.

All the players who were undergoing rehabilitation or had suffered injuries recently were included in the team based on fitness reports by John Gloster.

"The committee was briefed by Gloster about the injury status of players like Pathan, Balaji, Nehra and Tendulkar and it was found that all of them had recovered and had proved their fitness in Duleep Trophy matches," Nair said.

Coach John Wright also attended the meeting while Ganguly was consulted via tele-conference.

On Yuvraj's selection ahead of Kaif, Nair said "Yuvraj's record against Pakistan and present form in domestic cricket prompted the selectors to pick him ahead of Kaif. However, Kaif will be in the running for the remaining two Tests."

The selectors also announced the Board President's XI which will take on the visiting Pakistanis in a three-day warm-up match at Dharamsala from March 3 to 5.

Bangalore, February 26
The upcoming Indo-Pak cricket series would be fiercely competitive and tough and friendship on the field is out of the question, left-arm medium pacer Irfan Pathan said today.

“People may say things like it’s a friendship series, but the fact of the matter is when both sides get on the field, they will play for a win,” the Baroda seamer said.

Pathan said the absence of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar would not make much of a difference for the touring side.

“Whoever fills his slot will be equally capable, playing for your country is a big thing.”

“It will be a fiercely competitive and tough series for both teams. Whoever plays well on the day, will win.”

He said he had no plans to target any particular Pakistani batsman. “I just want to perform well. I have lot of things on my mind. I have no plans to target anybody. I will play my normal game.”

Pathan, who has come back after an injury layoff and played in the Duleep Trophy at Hyderabad, said: “I am feeling better and improving day by day. I don’t have any pain. I have recovered fully, but need to strengthen my muscles a little bit. I will be all right in a few days.”

Asked if he would take bowling tips from former Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram, Pathan said he always asked Akram about his (Pathan’s) bowling and not about any (Pakistani) batsmen.

“I have always asked him about my bowling. Whenever I had a problem, I asked him and he helped me a lot. It’s not as if I am talking to him only about the Indo-Pak series.”

To a question, Pathan said he always played according to his expectations, not to that of the people. “You can’t perform all the time, there will be ups and downs. But whenever I don the India colours, I give 100 per cent”.

Asked about his experience of working with John Wright, who is reported to be quitting after the Pakistan series, he profusely praised India’s first foreign coach.

“Wright has done so much for Indian cricket. I really respect him from my heart. He has really helped me in the past year. When you are a youngster and play for India, you need someone to handle you. He always helped me. He used to keep me on my toes all the time”.
— PTI

Auckland, February 26
Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey produced a record partnership to lead Australia to a series-clinching, 86-run win over New Zealand in the third one-day international cricket match here today.

Clarke and Hussey combined for a sixth-wicket partnership of 136 from 134 balls at Eden Park to lift Australia to 264 for five in 50 overs, batting first after winning the toss.

Andrew Symonds then ran out identical twins Hamish and James Marshall in the same manner to destabilise the New Zealand innings which ended at 178 for nine in the 42nd over.

New Zealand batsman Michael Papps retired hurt for three runs and did not bat again after being hit in the forehead by a sharply rising delivery from speedster Brett Lee.

Lee took two for 25 from seven overs and Brad Hogg, who cleaned up the tail, had three for 45 as Australia claimed victory with 8.1 overs in hand.

The tourists have now won the five-match series 3-0 with games remaining in Wellington and Napier.

Hamish Marshall top scored with 55 from 87 deliveries as New Zealand’s opener Nathan Astle made 27 from 47 balls, Craig McMillan 26 from 43 and Brendon McCullum 23.

But New Zealand were never able to score at a rate which threatened Australia’s total.

Johannesburg, February 26
Chasing South Africa’s impressive 301, Zimbabwe tumbled to 136 and a record 165-run defeat yesterday in the first of three one-day internationals.

In the absence of Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel, South Africa’s backup bowlers Andrew Hall and Albie Morkel stepped up to the plate and took five wickets between them for 52 runs as the visitors were unable to mount any kind of serious assault on their target at Wanderers Stadium.

“We all know Shaun is our frontline bowler together with Makhaya Ntini,” said South Africa captain Graeme Smith, “so it’s good to know there are people who can do the job for us when he is not there.”

Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu was the top scorer with 28 before he perished to a top-edged sweep off Nicky Boje, and his team slumped to its biggest-ever defeat by its neighbours.

Ntini and Hall took three wickets each — Hall’s costing just 29 runs in seven overs and two balls — while Morkel finished with 2-23 off six.

Earlier, Mark Boucher hit a whirlwind 49 off 29 balls as South Africa’s batsmen raced to 301 for seven wickets.

As South Africa’s leading batsmen struggled to push on to really big scores on an uncharacteristically slow pitch, Boucher hit three sixes and four fours to lift his team to a better score when it looked as if 260 might be all South Africa would achieve.

Linares (Spain), February 26
Viswanathan Anand played a safe game and settled for a quick draw against Hungarian Peter Leko in a second round tie of the 22nd Linares Super Grandmasters Chess Tournament here.

World’s top rated Garry Kasparov of Russia reached the top of the tables after three rounds with a crushing victory over local lad Frabcisco Vallejo Pons.

While Kasparov, who is on two points from three games, is half a point ahead of Anand in this category-20 event, the Indian ace has got 1.5 from two boards which suits him perfectly with 11 rounds still to come.

The event is being played on a double round robin basis between seven players and the total prize pool is Euro 297,000.

Even as Kasparov nudged himself to a plus score, both Anand and Leko made sure they had little to fear about in this long event.

Kasparov is ahead of his rivals but Anand can better him as he has an extra game on hand.
— PTI

Margao, February 26
Sporting Clube de Goa quelled a late resurgence to down Salgaocar SC by a solitary goal to score their third successive victory in the National Football League her today.

Dudu, who has been Sporting’s inspiration in attack, scored the all-important goal in the seventh minute when he headed home a corner kick taken by Nicholas Rodrigues. Salgaocar came back strongly in the last quarter of the match but lacked the finishing touches to draw level.

The win took Sporting Clube to fifth place with 13 points from six matches while Salgaocar remained on 11 points from 10 matches.

Jamshedpur: Kolkata giant Mohammedan Sporting established their supremacy when they defeated an inexperienced TFA XI by a brace in the exhibition match for tsunami victims at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here today.

Sporting dominated the proceedings from the word go and unleashed a series of attacks on the rival citadel. Amjad Hussain, who played for junior India team, drew first blood in the 16th minute. He received a pass on the top of the box and took a powerful shot to deceive the TFA custodian (1-0).

The Kolkata team continued its attack and got the second goal after nine minutes when midfielder Krishna Tudu, who also represented India in the subjunior
football, took a well-measured grounder after tapping a ball from Jiten Rai and netted the second and the final goal for his team (2-0).

Former soccer stars Chunni Goswami and Peter Thangaraj were present to watch the match which evoked a good response among the soccer lovers of the steel city here.
— UNI

Chandigarh, February 26
Fifteen golfers from Pakistan converged on the lush course of the Chandigarh Golf Club today for an Indo-Pak Goodwill Golf Tournament.

They rubbed shoulders with golfers from Chandigarh and Panchkula. And as they finished their rounds on the course they gathered in the club dining hall. The bon homie was very much there as they talked about their experiences. A number of the visiting golfers had come with their wives.

For quite a number of them, it was their first visit to Chandigarh

For Fida Hussain from Islamabad it was his first visit to the City Beautiful. Seated next to him was Rana Ahmed Noon from Lahore. All of them were amateurs and had come on the invitation of the
Chandigarh Golf Club.

They denied that girls were not getting exposure in sports. In fact, a number of girls were now taking to golf in a big way. They said Taimur Hussain had done well in the boys’ section in the Asian circuit.

The visitors will be playing another goodwill tournament at Panchkula tomorrow. But before that, the Chandigarh Golf Range has spread out a breakfast for them tomorrow morning.

As we talked, another golfer from Lahore, M.S. Babar, joined us. He is an advocate in the Lahore High Court and heads the
team. He is all praise for the hospitality extended by the hosts and is looking forward to visiting the Rock Garden and the Rose Garden.

Carlsbad (USA), February 26
World number one Vijay Singh and defending champion Tiger Woods, the top seeds, crashed out of the WGC Match Play Championship second round and third-seeded Phil Mickelson followed them out in the third round here.

Only two of the top 10 seeds remained after the two rounds played yesterday saw the field reduced from 32 to eight players.

Singh was defeated by American veteran Jay Haas 3 and 2, while Woods fell to Australia’s Nick O’Hern, who finished in style with a birdie to close out a 3 and 1 win.

Mickelson, who beat Argentina’s Angel Cabrera 4 and 3 in the second round, fell 4 and 2 to American David Toms.

Fourth seed Retief Goosen of South Africa barely survived the third round, beating American Chad Campbell at the 19th hole.

Woods, the two-time defending champion, had won 13 consecutive matches here, but struggled with his putter while the 33-year-old O’Hern carded just a single bogey.

“Nick made all the putts he had to make and I didn’t. That’s the difference between winning and losing,” Woods said. “You’ve got to plod along and that’s what Nick did. He’s very consistent, very solid, and doesn’t make a whole lot of mistakes. He made enough birdies to win.”

O’Hern said he was always confident he could get through against Woods. “Peter O’Malley beat Tiger a few years ago here, so I knew he wasn’t unbeatable,” said O’Hern, referring to the 2002 event when the 64th-seeded O’Malley beat Woods in the first round.
— AFP

Beginning confidently, Advani went on to win all five frames without much challenge despite his rival being a former world champion and one who had caused major upsets in the championship.

Praput was unable to show his skills and was rather held hostage by Advani, who continued to thrive on his form.

Such was the Indian’s domination that in the third and fourth frames, Praput went without a single point.

Advani, who had defeated the defending champion Devendra Joshi in the quarterfinals, set up the game from the first frame itself. He had an unfinished break of 90 in the first frame in which Praput was able to manage 64 points.

The second frame saw Advani consolidating his lead over Praput as he won the game with an unfinished break of 63. By the time the third frame ended, the result was a foregone conclusion.

Advani won the third and fourth frames with unfinished breaks of 81 and 94, respectively, and the fifth was mere formality in which he registered an unfinished breaks of 77 to pocket the title.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 26
Punjab Police today paid the price for their defender Kanwalpreet Singh’s violent act as they were thrown out of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament here today.

Kanwalpreet beat up Indian Oil’s Deepak Thakur who landed in hospital with a broken nose and injured arms.

The team was scrapped by the organisers after Kanwalpreet “without any provocation and intentionally” hit Thakur with his stick more than once causing facial injury to the IOC forward.

The incident took place 14 minutes into the match when Thakur objected to Punjab Police defender Kanwalpreet Singh’s tackling of Prabhjot Singh, an IOC forward, at the Shivaji Stadium.

Incensed over the objection, Kanwalpreet, himself an international player, hit Thakur on the face repeatedly with his stick following which the Indian forward had to be rushed to a city hospital for treatment.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 26
Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia of Kolkata, who missed most of the 2004-05 Amby Valley PGAI Tour season due to a fractured wrist, put that wrist to brilliant use to romp home to a convincing victory in the Rs 10 lakh prize money Sir Padampat Singhania Open Golf Tournament at the Noida Golf Course here today.

Chowrasia’s tally of eight-under 280, which included a final round of 73, was six better than friend Rafick Ali’s aggregate of 286. Chowrasia picked up a cash prize of Rs 1.62 lakh while Rafick earned Rs 1,12,000.

Rafick sailed past Shiv Prakash due to his round of 69 to secure the second position. Shiv had to settle for tied third position with Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh at one-under 287.

New Delhi, February 26
Pakistan club team Water and Power Authority Development, Lahore, got the better of Bharat Petroleum 4-3 in the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here today. In another match, Sapura Hockey Club, Malaysia, drew with Air India, Mumbai, 1-1.

New Delhi, February 26
Amandeep Singh Malik and Gagan Verma of India C took a four-stroke lead after the opening round of the Eveready 104th All-India Amateur Golf Championship, the grand finale of the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour, at the Delhi Golf Club course here today.

Malik shot an even-par 73 and Verma one-over 73 for a team total of one-over 146.

India A, comprising the country’s top-ranked player Gaganjeet Bhullar of Kapurthala and Simarjeet Singh of Noida were in second place at 149, thanks to Simarjeet’s 72.

Sri Lanka A, comprising Chandradasa and K Prabhagaran and India B, consisting of AS Lehal and Vikrant Chopra, were tied for the third place at 155.

Bhago Majra (Kharar), February 26
The three-day 21st annual kabaddi tournament concluded with a colourful cultural programme here today. The last event of the tournament was the final kabaddi match under Open Club category played between the teams of Ballo Majra and Kumbra villages.

The Janki Dass Club, Ballo Majra won the match and collected the purse of Rs 25,000 while Kumbra team bagged Rs 18,000 for the second spot.

In other kabaddi matches played under the categories of 57 kg and 65 kg, respectively, the teams of Matorah and Badhedi villages got the first positions, respectively. Seven teams contested under 57 kg category as well as nine teams played in 65 kg group.

Besides these competitions, a kabaddi exhibition match was played between the girls’ teams of Sports Club of Bhago Majra and Sports Club, Mohali. The Bhago Majra girls won the match. Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, could not come to the function. Mr Rakesh Pandey, Minister of State For Science and Technology and Industrial Training, gave away the prizes to winners.
TNS

BRIEFLY

Shivraj out of danger
MUMBAI: The condition of polo player Shivraj Singh, who was in coma after suffering a head injury during a match, has improved although he is still in a “semi-conscious” stage, according to hospital sources here.Shivraj, who was brought from Jaipur and admitted to the Bombay Hospital on February 21, had shown signs of improvement and was out of danger, CEO of Bombay Hospital Ashwini Kumar Tiwari said on Saturday.“We are also observing little movements in his limbs and in a few days’ time we expect more recovery,” said Dr S.N. Bhagwati, who is attending on
Shivraj.The 27-year-old Shivraj, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Jodhpur, had fallen from his horse while playing in the Birla Cup at Jaipur on February 18.
— PTI

South Asian judo
INDORE: Judokas from six countries, including Pakistan, would be seen in action in the two-day South Asian Judo championship beginning here on Sunday.

“Six teams — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India — will take part in the championship to be held at the basketball indoor stadium,” Judo Union of Asia (JUA) president Yoshinori Takeuchi told reporters here on Saturday.For men, the matches will be played under the 56 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 73 kg, 81 kg, 90 kg and open,categories while for women it will be 44 kg, 48 kg, 52 kg, 57 kg, 63 kg, 70 kg and open.A two-member contingent from Afghanistan is taking part for the first time in the tournament, Takeuchi said.
— PTI

Pollock out
DURBAN: All-rounder Shaun Pollock will not return to the South African team for the second one-day international against Zimbabwe in Durban on Sunday, team management said on Saturday.

Pollock, who has a long-term ankle injury, missed the first match of the series in Johannesburg on Friday.
— Reuters

Korfball tourney
PATIALA: Punjabi University entered the semifinal league of the All-India Inter-University Korfball Championship being played on the university campus here on Saturday.

In Sunday’s fixtures, the hosts take on MDU, Rohtak, while Osmania University, Hyderabad, square off with Kurukshetra University. In the afternoon session, Punjabi University clash with Osmania while Kurukshetra University cross swords with MDU, Rohtak.In Saturday’s matches, Osmania dashed the hopes of GNDU, Amritsar, of entering the last four league by registering a 10-6 win while MDU, Rohtak, got the better of Delhi University 12-6. In the last match of the day, Kurukshetra University swamped Mumbai University 16-3 while the hosts were awarded a walkover.Four-time hockey Olympian Balbir Singh (Senior) was the chief guest for Saturday’s programme.
— OSR

Khalsa College win
AMRITSAR: The local Khalsa College has won the Inter-College Guru Nanak Dev University Cricket Tournament for the second time in row. They beat DAV College in the last league match here on Friday.

Batting first, DAV College were all out for 157 in 33 overs. Khalsa College surpassed the target in 32 overs while losing six wickets. Rohit Rattan scored 66 runs for Khalsa College.
— OSR